On my way to you
by unforgetabELLE
Summary: Maybe the old saying is true and absence really does make the heart grow fonder or maybe the distance finally gave her perspective...It wasn't just that he was her partner and she trusted him with her life, and it wasn't like the crush from afar she'd held for Adrien. It was an ember that had been smoldering in her heart and suddenly a burst of wind brought it to full flame.
1. Chapter 1

She leaned her head against the cold plastic, not caring that the hum of the plane was magnified tenfold by doing so or that the vibration of the engine was slowly rattling her brain into oblivion. After three months in China, her brain felt like a jumble of nothingness anyway. Just when she'd finally gotten used to speaking Chinese, they were leaving and she had to switch back to French. She had literally forgot the french word for sock that morning. _Sock_. She learned that word when she was what? Two? But, nope. Her brain had become a jumble of her native tongue and her approximation of passable Mandarin and it was an exhausting yet fantastic sensation.

At the start of the journey, one of the redeeming factors about having to spend her summer visiting family halfway across the globe was how impressed Adrien would be with her superior Mandarin skills when she got back. Not that she wasn't excited to meet her mother's family, but leaving all her friends and her partner for so long was not something she did easily, so she found positives where she could.

 _Her partner._

That was one of the unexpected benefits of this trip. A confusing one...but she was pretty sure it was a positive. She may have left with thoughts of impressing Adrien, but the longer she was away the more she found her longing for Adrien replaced with the face of a very different and unfortunately more elusive blonde boy. She had a group chat with Alya, Nino and Adrien and was able to keep in touch with them that way, but it wasn't like she had Chat's phone number or email to send a quick _hello_. Finally, about two weeks into her stay, she transformed for the first time and realized that her yo-yo's reception had no limit on distance. From that night on,she would find herself staying up until the wee hours of the morning hoping to see his icon pop up on her screen so she could catch him on patrol.

Luckily for them both, Hawkmoth seemed to have taken a vacation the same time as she did, or at least there weren't any akumas for him to deal with. He didn't _have_ to patrol, but he still did so nightly. A part of her selfishly hoped he transformed to see her just like she did to see him. More than once her parents had to rouse her after only a few hours of sleep because the two superheroes had ended up talking until the sun came up where she was. She would tell her parents that she had been up late talking to Alya and they would just nod and tell her to get more sleep the next night. Thankfully, she had her own room and they were in a relatively rural area, so her parents weren't too suspicious of her nightly chats with Chat and no noisy neighbors took notice of a girl in red spandex just chilling on the roof of her grandparent's home.

Those talks were the highlight of her trip and she found herself craving the ascent of the moon because it meant it was almost night in Paris. She honestly wasn't sure when it happened. Maybe the old saying is true and absence really does make the heart grow fonder or maybe the distance finally gave her the perspective of her partner she had been lacking. With nowhere to run off to and no akumas to fight, she and Chat would just...talk. In vague terms, of course, but about his life and her travels and their dreams outside the mask. It was so familiar and right and one night as Marinette stared at his face on the screen, the dawn breaking in a haze of turquoise behind her and them both resting in an easy silence, Marinette realized she loved him. It wasn't just that he was her partner and she trusted him with her life, and it wasn't like the crush from afar she'd held for Adrien. It was an ember that had been smoldering in her heart and suddenly a burst of wind brought it to full flame. When the puns and the flirting fell away and she saw him, she recognized who he was in a part of her soul she didn't realize had existed.

Their dynamic had shifted. She found herself revealing more and more personal details about herself. She wouldn't give her identity away, not until she was back, but she wanted to tell him _everything_ and she didn't care anymore if he somehow figured it out. She went into detail about what she did everyday, what it was like meeting her cousins and fumbling through Mandarin and he told her about a summer internship he'd gotten at a big company and about his guilt over enjoying his father's extended business trip. He listened so attentively to her and she found herself just as interested in the minute details of his day. It was ridiculous, but she was also ridiculously happy.

They didn't get to talk everyday. She was in China for a large family wedding that they were helping her grandparents prepare for and his internship made him work long hours on top of the patrols. Some nights she would start to fall asleep on the roof just waiting to see his icon pop up and would transform the next day only to see a video message he sent apologizing for missing her. It was hit or miss, and she longed to be back in the same time zone. In the same city. _Their city._

A part of her also dreaded it, because she had made her decision. She was going to tell him who she was. It was what had knotted her stomach so tightly she'd hardly eaten in two days. The wedding had been beautiful and her cousin's husband seemed very nice, at least in the clipped conversation Marinette had managed with him. Her family had been so joyful and despite the language barrier, Marinette would cherish the feeling of being surrounded by so much love. She would miss them more than she'd anticipated, but what she really wanted was Paris. And Alya. And Nino. And Adrien. But mostly, she wanted Chat, and she wanted to hear him say her name. Her _real_ name.

She took her head off the window of the plane and pulled the hood of her sweatshirt up and down over her eyes, blocking out the world as she gnawed nervously on her lip. 4 more hours.

She'd never been so terrified and excited in her life.

* * *

Adrien paced in the airport lobby. He'd gotten there two hours early, but it was fine. He'd just tell Alya and Nino he beat them by a few minutes when they finally arrived. He'd alternated between sitting and pacing, but the airport staff was already looking at him funny, so he gave up any pretense of being calm and just paced.

She was almost home. His Lady. His Bugaboo. _Marinette_.

He paused his pacing, to check the arrivals boards again. _Finally_ her flight was showing up. _On time_. Good. He resumed his pacing.

He'd been so blind to have not seen it before. She was right there. The girl sitting behind him everyday was the same one running beside him every night, yet, somehow, it took a separation of 3 months and 8,000 kilometers for him to figure it out. Even the knowledge that both Marinette and Ladybug would be on vacation in China for three months wasn't enough for it to click in his mind. No. I was a stupid little story about a translation mistake.

They were all video chatting and Marinette was telling them how she had been talking to her grandmother and accidentally referred to her mother as a horse. It was a small tonal difference, and an easy mistake for a beginner to make. Adrien had sympathized for the group, being the only one who understood what she was talking about, and then Alya started talking about an article she was working on and the conversation moved on. He forgot about it. Then he heard the story again, but this time it was Ladybug telling Chat. He'd watched her in astonishment, her arms waving just as they had earlier that day when she'd recounted it in their group video call. Bangs hanging slightly into her eyes and nose crinkling in embarrassment over her flub and it hit him. His lady was Marinette.

The next few nights, her watched her carefully both as Adrien and Chat, searching for every detail and trying to marry the girl to the masked hero and confirm his suspicions.

He'd been shocked. He knew Marinette. She was kind, but she always seemed to hold back around him. He'd seen her stand up for other classmates and sketch determinedly in her notebook, and he could vividly see his lady in those moments, but when she was with him...it was different. She stuttered over her words and made excuses to escape his presence as soon as possible. He couldn't tell if he made her nervous or if she didn't like him and just didn't know how to tell him to get lost. When they were with Nino and Alya, it was better, but there was still a distance between them, and Adrien never knew how to bridge the gap.

When he helped her when her uncle had visited, he felt like they were finally becoming closer. Then summer break happened and when she left for China, he feared that progress would be lost. At first, it was halting, but somewhere along the line Marinette stopped stuttering. She would address him directly in their chats, and one look at Alya's face confirmed he wasn't the only one noticing the change. She seemed more comfortable and he hoped that maybe that meant she didn't hate him. Still, the nagging _what if_ remained and he couldn't help but worry that she'd be disappointed if she found out he was Chat Noir, because while her warm up to him as Adrien may have been tepid, Chat and Ladybug lately were pure fire.

He had been surprised the first time she called him on his baton. When she told him about her trip, he'd been steeling himself for the long separation, but of course she was smarter than him and realized their magical instruments had no regard for distance or political boundaries. It quickly became a habit and he found himself skipping out of work early-there were some perks to working for the family company-just to make sure he patrolled early enough to catch her. He had the time difference memorized by now and found himself daydreaming about what she might be doing depending on what time of day it was in China. Then she'd call him, and he'd find out if he'd been right. She was detailed, more detailed than she'd ever been in describing her life, and he'd been more than happy to reciprocate, relishing every story and smile she sent his way. He didn't know what had changed, but something was definitely different between them. He wasn't complaining. Somehow he'd fallen even more in love with her across the world, her every word cementing in his mind that what he felt for Ladybug definitely was not just a passing crush.

And when the shock at his own stupidity of finding out Ladybug was Marinette wore off, he realized it made it even more real. This girl who he'd been dying to know turned out to be the person he'd been dreaming about, and he'd been elated to finally put a name to His Lady. The only catch was that Ladybug had been adamant about their secrecy from the beginning. Her reaction to him finding out her identity, accidental as it may have been, paired with his fear of her being disappointed was enough to give him pause in his elation.

Still, he needed to tell her that he knew. He owed her that. He just didn't know how. He also didn't know how to act around Marinette until she knew. Everything in his being was screaming at him to run to her as soon as she arrived, gather her up into a hug and never let go again. He'd finally found her, but he had to play it cool. The problem was, he wasn't cool. He was a dork. Sometimes a dork with cat ears, but always a dork. And when it came to this girl? He was a stupid lovesick dork, in case arriving hours ahead of time to the airport and pacing in a never ending loop wasn't enough evidence to prove that already.

Hours later, when he'd finally wore off enough energy that he _thought_ he'd be able to temper his reaction when Marinette finally arrived, Alya and Nino met him at the arrivals gate.

"Hey!" Alya called, waving as they spotted him. _Spotted...spots...ladybug_. He shook his head. He was going crazy. He waved back, hoping he looked normal.

"You beat us here! And I thought I had planned to be early."

"I just got here," he said, trying to plaster an innocent expression on his face. Alya smirked, and he cursed that girl's ability as a human lie detector.

"Well, good thing. Her flight landed super early, so we're actually just in time."

Adrien's mind went into emergency overdrive. He thought he'd had another hour to prepare, and all his hard work at being calm went out the window as adrenaline shot through his veins at the thought of seeing her sooner. Alya, of course, noticed. She opened her mouth to make a comment, but Adrien was spared by the electronic whoosh of the doors from customs opening and a mass of people starting to spill out. Rising up onto their tippy-toes, all three of them craned their neck trying to spot their short friend among the crowd. When a shriek blew out his eardrum, he knew Alya had been successful. He heard an echoing scream and his eyes shot to the source of the response in time to see a blur of black and green rush into Alya's arms.

 _Her hair is different,_ was his first thought, noticing it fall loosely around her shoulders. It was followed swiftly by, _she's wearing my colors._

He watched as Marinette flew into Alya's arms the way he'd imagined her flying into his, but he was too in awe of her to be jealous. She wore black leggings, some dainty slippers with embroidery he assumed she'd gotten on her trip, and an oversized hunter green zip-up hoodie with cat-paws stitched onto the front pockets with lime green thread. _It's a Chat Noir hoodie_ , his brain slowly realized and he felt his face crack into a wide grin. Ladybug was wearing a Chat Noir hoodie that she clearly had made herself.

Marinette pulled back after hugging Nino and turned to him, pausing briefly when she noticed the probably near-maniacal grin on his face, but she moved to hug him anyway. If Alya's expression was anything to go by, he probably held her a little too tightly for a little too long, but it took all his willpower to convince himself to let go. It was the first time Marinette had hugged him as Adrien, and he tallied it as a score in the _Marinette doesn't hate Adrien_ column.

He stood in a stupor as Alya linked her arm with Marinette and went to talk to her parents who were waiting for the luggage. Nino stayed with Adrien, just staring at him with a bemused expression.

"Soooo, Mari looks good." Nino edged, wiggling his eyebrows.

"Uh huh," Adrien retorted, using the full extent of his wit. "I mean, yeah," he cleared his throat. "She must have had a good time in China."

Nino responded, but Adrien didn't hear him. He was watching Marinette gesture widely as she related some story to Alya, her father chiming in every so often. What really got him though was the way her hands kept going back to her sweatshirt. _Was that a bell on her zipper?_ His smile grew wider. Maybe, just maybe, she was a little in love with Chat too.


	2. Chapter 2

"Um, care to explain what just happened at the airport?" Alya was laying on Marinette's bed, but turned to look at her expectantly. Marinette was sitting on the floor, unpacking her clothes into piles to be put away and washed and tried to pretend she didn't know what Alya was talking about.

"What do you mean?"

"Come on, Mari," Alya flipped onto her stomach to better stare down her best friend. "You leave barely able to hold complete conversations with Adrien and you come back not only more eloquent than ever, but you _hug_ him. What is it? Did you find the magical cure to your crush in China?"

"Maybe." She continued to sort through her things, wanting to tell Alya about her revelations, but not knowing how without going into the whole _I'm Ladybug_ topic.

"Um, excuse me? So we're completely over blondie?"

"That blonde, at least," Marinette responded absentmindedly, only realizing her mistake when she saw Alya's eyes widen.

"That blonde? _That blonde?!_ Marinette Dupain-Cheng, are you holding out on me? Three months and you've not only moved on from pretty boy, but you've moved on to _another boy?_ I'm not sure whether to be proud or pissed that this is the first I'm hearing of it. Who is it? Do I know him?" Alya had propped her head on her hand during this barrage of questions and focused all the power of her gaze on Marinette, making her friend squirm under the attention.

"It's not-I mean-It's someone I've known for a while. We were friends, but-I don't know. Something changed, and we talked a lot while I was away, and…" She trailed off, not knowing how to explain that she realized the one person she really loved had been by her side the entire time and it took a three month separation for her to finally see sense.

"Ah, l'amore. Absence does make the heart grow fonder." Alya threw her arm dramatically over her brow and Marinette was grateful for the humorous tone shift. "But you didn't answer my question," Alya continued. "Who's the lucky guy?"

"Erm...well, you don't _exactly_ know him." Marinette hedged and tried to focus on her luggage.

"Is he in our class? Did you meet him somewhere else?" Alya watched her for a reaction, and Marinette started to fiddle nervously with the bell on her hoodie, looking anywhere but Alya. Still, she noticed the moment Alya put it together, the light shining in her eyes as if an actual light bulb went off inside her head.

"Wait. Another blonde. Chat Noir? You're in love with CHAT NOIR?"

"Erm…" Marinette cringed, not wanting to deny it but not wanting it to seem like she was just moving on from one celebrity crush to another either. Thankfully, she wouldn't have to.

"Finally," Alya sat up and swung her legs around on the bed, her statement catching Marinette completely off guard.

"What?" she asked intelligently. "Wait, what do you mean _finally_?"

"Mari." she said, raising her eyebrows and giving Marinette a look.

"Alya?" Marinette had no idea what that look meant.

" _Mari."_ Alya tried again, dropping her head and looking up at her friend in an expression that clearly said _Come on._

"We can keep doing this or you can use actual words," Marinette finally said, completely befuddled. Usually, she could speak Alya pretty fluently, but either the time apart or the jet lag were messing with her because she had no idea what her friend was thinking.

"Mari, I mean, come on. I know."

"You know?" She tilted her head in a question.

"I _know_ ," Alya stated again and widened her eyes at Marinette, waiting for her to put it together.

"Oh my god. You _know?_ When? How? WHY DIDN'T YOU SAY SOMETHING?"

"Please. I'm an investigative reporter. You think I couldn't figure out that my _best friend,_ who doesn't so much as change her hairstyle, is the masked superhero swinging through Paris everyday? Please, you offend my skills."

"But...when?"

"About the third akuma attack. I dropped _so many hints_ , but I read comic books. I get the whole Clark Kent alter ego and _no one must know_ angle."

"You know," Marinette repeated, her brain stuck on repeat as she listened to Alya.

"Yes, dear," she said consolingly. "Does he?"

Marinette's head shot up and she shook her head no. Alya sighed.

"Are you going to tell him?"

She nodded.

"Good. Tell him, and then come back and tell me _everything_. I won't even bombard you with the list of Ladybug questions I've been stockpiling to ask you because I can tell by that look on your face that you've been screaming internally since you realized that you were in love with him." She paused to look over at Marinette and her friend just nodded again, for some reason no longer capable of speech. "Also, once it's done, I expect the exclusive first interview with LadyNoir."

"LadyNoir?" Marinette managed to repeat.

"Your couple name, silly." Alya tossed a pillow and it hit her lightly in her face, seeming to break her out of her stupor.

"Alya, I'm terrified," she admitted suddenly.

"I know, hun." Her friend's face softened and she gave her a small smile. "But you know he loves you, right? All of Paris can see that."

"But what if it's just Ladybug and not _me_?"

"One: you are Ladybug. Two: that definitely isn't true. And Three: I doubt Chat-boy is that stupid, but if he is, then he didn't deserve you in the first place." Alya carefully ticked off her fingers as she listed each one and Marinette felt a surge of gratefulness for her pragmatic friend. She smiled just as she saw a blur of red appear over her shoulder.

"That's what I _keep telling her._ " Tikki squeaked and Marinette watched Alya's face freeze in shock at the appearance of the small god. She remembered that Alya had apparently known she was Ladybug all this time and let her keep floundering for excuses to explain her absences during akuma attacks; so, she returned the favor and held off introductions, letting Alya freak out a bit over the strange talking bug-creature.

"Ummm, Mari?" Alya whispered, still not daring to move.

"Oh, you haven't figured this part out yet? I didn't realize. I figured since you've known for _sooo long_ …"

"Okay, I'm sorry for messing with you. Please explain the small talking creature floating near your head."

"Tikki, my kwami. She gives me my miraculous powers." Alya's shoulders started to relax.

"Oh. So, you're like a lucky ladybug goddess." Alya addressed Tikki directly, and Marinette smiled at her kwami, but Alya wasn't done. "Well, for battle anyway. Lord knows her love life is the opposite of lucky."

The two snickered together and Marinette looked on with a sardonic expression.

"I knew I liked you," Tikki piped up just as Marinette commented, "I'm going to regret introducing you two."

They only laughed more.

* * *

Chat paced on the roof where she had messaged him to meet. He had been pacing a lot recently. At least it meant he wouldn't have to hear about how his summer sweets addiction was ruining his model physique from his father when he got back. His nervous eating was being offset by his nervous pacing, though he doubted this is what doctors meant when they said to lead a balanced lifestyle. Nevertheless, he paced and with every turn on the rooftop he changed his mind. _Should I tell her immediately? Should I wait? Should I reveal my identity first? Will she be angry? Will she hate me?_

It was exhausting, and he had worked himself up into such a state that when a pair of familiar arms wrapped around him from behind, he freaked out. In a very heroic manner, he screamed, lost his balance, and tripped, falling face-first to the ground. Looking up, he saw his Bugaboo with a bemused smile on her face but blushing as well. _God, she's pretty_ , his love-addled brain managed, before he realized he should probably pick himself up and say something suave to impress her.

"Hey," he said instead. _Close enough._

"Hey," she waved, probably scared to come near him after his reaction to her hug. "Sooo," she drew out, walking halfway around him as if sizing him up. "I'm back."

She stopped and looked at him, hesitant and waiting for him to make a move. He finally realized that he _hadn't_ imagined their new closeness these last few months. She _did_ feel something for him as Chat, and even if in the next few minutes that was shattered by him revealing his true identity, he was going to savor the now.

"Yeah, you are," he smiled widely at her, but she rolled her eyes and spread her arms out wide.

"I'm back," she tried again, giving him a pointed look and he finally got the hint. Swooping towards her, he gathered her muscular frame into his arms, holding her tighter and longer than he'd dare to earlier at the airport. She wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned her cheek against his, her soft hair tickling the side of his face as he smiled wider. Lifting her feet off the ground, he spun them around the roof. Her rewarding laugh energized his entire being and made him never want to put her down.

"Okay, okay, chaton," she gasped through giggles. "Put me down before I puke and ruin the moment."

He set her down, but didn't let go.

"So you admit we're having a _mew_ -ment?" He raised an eyebrow at her, grateful that his anxiety had subsided enough for him to be himself again.

"Hmmm…"She tapped her chin in thought. "At least _half_ a moment."

"I'll take it," he responded immediately and she laughed again. God, he wanted to hear her laugh for the rest of his life.

"I missed you, Kitty," she leaned in and wrapped her arms around his waist this time, and he added holding her like this to his list of things he never wanted to live without.

"We talked almost every day."

"Not enough." Her muffled voice floated up to him and he felt like his heart would burst.

"No, it wasn't."

He didn't know how long they stayed like that, but he couldn't bring himself to break away. He needed to tell her he knew, but maybe just a few minutes more...

* * *

She was procrastinating. She was fully aware of this, but the way she fit into his arms...Why had she never realized this before? She had the overwhelming urge to go back in time, slap Marinette from a year ago and say to her _wake up! He's right in front of you, you idiot!_

But it couldn't last. She needed to be completely honest with him and she needed to do it now before she lost her resolve. She reluctantly let go of her Chat and walked towards the roof's edge. She'd contemplated exactly what she would say, but none of what she'd come up with sounded right anymore. She heard him start to move towards her, so she spoke before he could touch her again and make her lose her nerve.

"Do you still want to know who I am?" She asked softly, still facing the darkened city.

"I do know who you are." He replied immediately and she smiled. That was true, but only a idealized version of the truth. Unfortunately, their lives were more complicated than that, and she held a big part of the blame for that.

"I mean my name, chaton. Who I am out of the mask."

"You're the same person in and out of the mask."

"Oh really?" She turned to face him now, and saw his eyes staring at her intently. "And who is that?"

He regarded her for a moment and then a tender smile spread across his face.

"You're brave, kind and caring. You're compassionate towards others and fierce in the face of opposition." He slowly walked towards her.

"You're a voice of logic when nothing makes sense, a loyal friend and stubborn when you know you're right."

He took another step towards her.

"You hate liars and your family makes macarons to die for."

He took another step and she gasped as she realized what he just said.

"Chat," she gasped, but he continued his slow prowl.

"You're going to be a designer some day and I have no doubt you'll take that world by storm because you're a force of nature when you put your mind to something."

Another step.

"And I already love you, Marinette. With and without the mask. I'm sorry it took me so long to realize it."

Her tears were freely flowing at this point, but she saw the flash of green through her watery vision as Chat released his transformation.

"I just hope you love me too," Adrien stood in front of her then and her brain was only functioning enough to get out the only four words that made any sense anymore. Luckily, they were the only four words she needed.

"I love you, too."

Tikki released her transformation of her own volition; so, when Adrien's lips crashed with hers, there were no boundaries left between them. They were just Adrien and Marinette, and despite every fear, that was _absolutely_ enough.


End file.
